Jayhawks Beat Buffs For 18th Straight Time

Top 25

Eric Chenowith had 15 points as No. 4 Kansas clinched a tie for the Big 12 title with an 81-72 men’s basketball victory over Colorado on Monday night in Boulder, Colo.

Foul-plagued Raef LaFrentz finished with 13 points, and Billy Thomas had 16 for the Jayhawks (28-3, 12-1 Big 12), who beat Colorado for the 18th straight time and improved to 7-0 since LaFrentz returned from a broken right hand.

Kenny Price had 23 points and Charlie Melvin added 17 to lead Colorado (12-11, 6-7). The Buffaloes haven’t beaten Kansas since 1991.

Kansas led by five points when LaFrentz committed his fourth foul and was forced to the bench with 16:38 remaining. The Jayhawks built as much as a 13-point lead without their star center before Colorado made a late run.

Trailing 75-64 with 2:10 left, Colorado pulled within six on Price’s fifth 3-pointer and two free throws by Marlon Hughes. But the Buffs missed three straight shots and Kansas hit six free throws for the win.

(11) New Mexico 75, UNLV 66

At Las Vegas, Kenny Thomas scored 16 points and Clayton Shields and Lamont Long each had 15 as the Lobos (20-3, 10-1 WAC) beat the Rebels (13-10, 4-6).

New Mexico won its seventh straight, never trailed and led by as many as 14 points in the second half. Royce Olney added 14 points for the Lobos.

Kevin Simmons led UNLV with 20 points and Tyrone Nesby had 18.

(20) W. Virginia 71, Marshall 58

At Charleston, W.Va., Greg Jones scored 24 points and the Mountaineers (21-5) survived the absence of leading scorer Damian Owens with a non-league victory over the Thundering Herd (10-12).

The Mountaineers were forced to play without Owens after he bruised his back in a loss Saturday at Syracuse. Owens, who is averaging 18.3 points this season, had played in 109 consecutive games for West Virginia.

Xavier 96, (24) Geo. Washington 86

At Cincinnati, Gary Lumpkin scored a career-high 31 points as the Musketeers (17-6, 9-4 Atlantic 10) rallied from a 10-point deficit to beat the Colonials (20-6, 9-4).

Xavier hit 45 of 63 from the foul line - the 45 free throws made tied the school record - and pulled it out in the second half with four players limited by fouls.

(21) Syracuse 69, Villanova 64

At Philadelphia, Ryan Blackwell had a career-high 23 points as the Orangemen (20-5, 9-4 Big East) beat the Wildcats (10-14, 7-8).

John Celestand had a career-high 24 points for Villanova.

Women

(1) Tennessee 91, (14) Vanderbilt 60

At Nashville, Tenn., Chamique Holdsclaw scored 28 points and Tamika Catchings added 26 as the Volunteers (29-0, 13-0 SEC) survived a slow start before routing the Commodores (18-6, 8-5).

Tennessee hit only two of its first nine shots and trailed 16-7 after Vanderbilt put together a 12-0 spurt.

But the Volunteers answered with a 17-0 run to take the lead for good.